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Sarah Payonk knows what it is like to be part of the last team standing.

As a high school senior last season, she helped lead Spring-Ford to the PIAA Class AAAA championship.

Now, she will try to help the University of Scranton women's basketball team win a title.

The freshman and her Lady Royals teammates open the NCAA Division III tournament against Bridgewater State (16-11) tonight at 7 at the John Long Center. It is the second game of a doubleheader that features Vassar College (22-5) and Williams College (20-5) in the 5 p.m. opener.

On Saturday, the winners will meet in the second round at 5 p.m. at the Long Center.

Payonk believes her experience in high school will help her handle the pressure of her first NCAA tournament.

"In the tournament, you lose and you're done," she said. "Even if you're playing a team you think you should (beat), you can't take anyone for granted. Your season is at stake. So I think that will help me focus on the games at hand."

Scranton coach Mike Strong said he definitely believes Payonk's experience will be an advantage because she is used to playing in front of large crowds in a big-game atmosphere.

He noted the regular-season game at Moravian on Feb. 19. The Lady Royals held a two-point lead when Payonk was fouled with five seconds left. She was forced to shoot her two free throws at the basket behind which the Moravian baseball team was standing and trying to distract her.

"Boom. Boom," Strong said, recalling how Payonk hit both foul shots to give the Lady Royals a four-point lead and wound up winning, 70-69. "And they were loud as hell and active when she went to the free-throw line.

"She told us she reframed what they were chanting and all she heard was 'Sa-rah, Sa-rah, Sa-rah.' "

Throughout the season, Payonk has given the Lady Royals (24-3) plenty to cheer about.

Although she has started all 27 games, Strong usually substitutes Payonk early with senior Katie Sherry. Payonk then becomes part of the "Second Five" unit that has ignited the Lady Royals so often this season.

She ranks second on the team in scoring with 10.9 points and first in rebounds with 8.2. Of her 221 total rebounds, 92 have come on the offensive glass for a Landmark Conference-leading 3.4 per game.

"She's a great offensive rebounder," Strong said. "Those are the people who have a nose for the ball and she has it at an extremely high level."

Strong also said Payonk is the best interior passer the Lady Royals have had since Katie Dougherty (2000-04). That is evidenced by her 75 assists.

And, her surprisingly quick hands have enabled the six-foot forward to make a team-high 53 steals.

All of that led the Landmark Conference to name Payonk its Rookie of the Year.

In the classroom, Payonk is as intelligent as she is on the court. She carried a 4.0 grade-point average last semester as a nursing major.

"I'm grateful I was given the opportunity by my coach and team to have an impact early on," Payonk said. "I wasn't expecting anything coming in. I was just kind of hoping I'd do my best and see what happens. So being part of the team and having a role as a freshman is really exciting."

Six more wins by Payonk and her teammates would make things even more exciting. That means the Lady Royals would be the last team standing in NCAA Division III.

Contact the writer: swalsh@timesshamrock.com @swalshTT on Twitter

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